Gas cock



March 1938- c. s. STUCKENHOLT ET AL 2,111,998

GAS COCK l'iled Sept. 9; 1956 Z r 4g,

Patented Mar. 22, 1938 PATENT OFFICE GAS oocx Casper S. Stuckenholt and John J. Slavin, Cleveland, Ohio, assignors to The W. J. Schoenberger Company, Cleveland,

tion of Ohio Ohio, a corpora- Appllcation September 9, 1936, Serial No. 100,011 1 Claim. (01. 251-165) Our invention relates to improvements in gas cocks.

The object of our invention is to provide a cock of this character which can not be accidentally 5 opened to allow the gas to now to the burners and pertains particularly to the type of cocks in which theoperatingstem of the plug valve has a longitudinal movement for releasing it from its' locked position, so that the plug valve can be then rotated to different positions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cock of this type in which the operating stem and the spring controlling the latching members are retained in their relative assembled position within the turning plug, so that the same can be readily removed from the housing without afiecting their assembled operative relation.

A further object of our invention is to provide a valve of this character in which the turning 20 plug can be readily removed .or inserted in the housing and in which all parts, during assembly operations, will automatically assume their,

proper position to allow the plug to be properly clamped in operative position.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a simple cheap and efiective valve of this type having certain details of structure and combination of parts hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawing:

30 Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of our improved valve;

Figure 2 is a top plan view partly in sectio showing locking nut removed;

Figure 3 is a vertical section view of'the plug valve taken on the line 3-3; 1

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the plug and locking sleeve in their separated relation; and

Figure 5 is a side view of the plug valve showing a modified means of locking the stem in the 40 plug valve.

Referring now to the drawing l represents the valve housing of the usual cast form having in one side an inlet 2 and in the opposite side an outlet 3 both communicating with the central tapering plug valve opening 4 which has its lower end closed by the solid wall 5. This wall is provided with an opening 5!), closed by a screw plug 8, whereby the plug valve may be more readily removed from its opening in the event it should become corroded or otherwise wedged in the opening. The housing I is provided with an upwardly extending flange 1 into which extends the tapering valve opening and is externally threaded as indicated at 8 and upon which is screwed the nut 9 for holding a valve plug in,

position as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The plug valve lll has its lower end .1! of the usual solid form and formed with an opening 12 therethrough and adapted to register with the oppositely arranged inlet and outlet openings 2 and 3. The upper end of plug valve I0 has a circular opening 13 extending from its upper end a considerable distance therein for the purpose of securing the operating stem, as will be presently described. The exterior of the valve plug has its upper end externally reduced as indicated at M and said reduced portion has a vertical or longitudinal slot I which communicates with the opening l3.

Within the opening 13 is the valve stem I6 which has its lower end 18 of a circular form to closely fit the opening 13 and is provided with a pin Ill extending outwardly through the slot 15 beyond the wall of the reduced portion M of the plug. The extreme lower end of the stem is provided with a circular depression 5| in which is arranged a coil spring 19 which engages the bot tom thereof and normally exerts upward pressure on the stem. The valve stem I6 is slightly reduced from the point 20 to its upper end forming a shoulder at the point 20. The interior of the opening l3, in the plug, is provided with a semicircular groove 2l which extends circumferentially around the plug from the walls of the slot 15, and flttingin said groove is a locking spring 2| which has outwardly turned ends 22 and 23 extending into the slot Hi. This spring 2| engages the shoulder 20 of the stem l6 and limits the upward movement of the stem caused by the pressure of the spring I9.

The upper end of the flange I, in opposite sides thereof, is provided with the notches 24 and 25 which are of diilerent sizes for a purpose later described. The locking sleeve 26 is of a thickness equal to the reduced portion of the valve plug so that it is free to pass over the same within the space formed thereby, between it and the flange I of the housing. The upper end of the sleeve on opposite sides is provided with lugs 21 and 28 of different sizes, corresponding in width with'the notches 24 and 25 in which the lugs are adapted to seat. The sleeve is thus held in the housing against rotation and due to the relative sizes of the slots and lugs can only be placed therein in one position, so that the locking feature can only have one position relative to the plug and its opening. v

The locking sleeve at its lower end is formed. with a cut away portion as indicated at 29, which extends approximately one third of the circumierence of the sleeve, and at one end of said cut away portion, is a notch 30 communicating therewith, and the pin I1 is free to move in the cut away portion of the sleeve and enter the notches. Surrounding the valve stem is a nut 3| which has a portion 32 engaging the flange l and having an outwardly enlarged portion 33 internally threaded and screwed upon the threaded portion of the flange I whereby the parts are locked in their operative position.

When the valve is closed the pin I! has been forced by the spring i 9 into the notch 30 and the plug can not be turned by the valve stem. When in this position the valve is locked against tuming movement. In order to open the valve the stem I6 is forced inwardly against the tension of the spring I9 and the pin i1 is moved downward out of the notch 30 into the cut away portion 29 of the sleeve and thus the valve by a turning action of the stem is rotated to an open position, the pin traveling in said cut away portion until it reaches the end thereof, when the rotation of the plug is stopped and the valve is in a wide open position. When in this position, and at all times, the spring i 9 is forcing the valve stem upwardly and causing a frictional engagement of the pin I! with the wall of the cut away portion of the sleeve and thus preventing the easy turning of the plug. At the same time the spring is exerting a downward pressure on the plug to hold it tightly in the tapered opening. In order to remove the stem from the plug, the two ends 22 and 23 of the spring 2|, extending into the slot, are forced together, thus withdrawing the spring from the groove 2| and allowing the stem and spring 2| to move outward from the opening IS in the plug. This allows a new spring to be inserted at any time. In assembling the stem and valve plug the spring is is first inserted in the plug and the stem pushed therein, the pin i1 traveling downwardly in the slot IS. The spring 2| is then slipped over the stem and the ends are then brought together, so that the spring can be forced downward between the stem and the inner wall of the opening in the plug with the turned ends in the slot.

This downward movement is continued until the spring 2| is forced downwardly until it snaps into the groove 23.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the plug valve i and its stem l6, together with the coil spring I! can be removed as a unit whenever it becomes necessary to grease the plug, as is frequently the case. Heretofore, this operation has proven particularly troublesome due to the tact that the spring l9 would frequently become lost. Furthermore considerable difllculty was encountered in assembling these parts after the greasing operation.

In the modification shown in Figure the exterior of the upper end of the plug is provided with a groove 34 in which a contracting locking spring 35 is sprung and the spring engaging the pin ll of the stem forms a stop to limit the upward movement thereof.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

A valve comprising a housing, a valve plug therein having a reduced hollow extension, said extension formed with a circular recess and a longitudinal slot, a valve stem extending snugly into said hollow extension and longitudinally movable therein, a coil spring at the bottom of said hollow extension for holding said stem in extended position, a pin carried by the stem and extending through said longitudinal slot for looking the stem against rotation in the plug and locking the plug against rotation in the housing in its closed position, said stem above said pin having a reduced portion to provide a shoulder on said stem and an annular space of substantial width between said reduced portion and the valve plug, and an expansible split ring insertable through said space for engagement in said circular recess and engageable by said shoulder for preventing the stem from passing from the plug when removed from the housing, said split ring being formed with bent ends extending into said longitudinal slot to facilitate assembly and disassembly of said ring.

CASPER S. STUCKENHOLT. JOHN J. SLAVIN- 

